1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fire-resistant arrangements for building structures. In particular, disclosed arrangements are wall gap fire resistant structures or “fire blocks” that reduce or prevent fire, air, smoke and heat from passing from one side of a wall to the other side through a wall gap.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional head-of-wall fire blocks are typically labor-intensive to install. As a result, most conventional fire blocks are expensive. One example of a conventional fire block arrangement involves a fire resistant material, such as mineral wool, stuffed into gaps at the head-of-wall. Once the gaps are filled with the fire block material, a flexible coating, such as a spray-on elastomeric coating, covers the entire head-of-wall to secure the fire block material in place. As noted, such an arrangement requires a significant amount of time to install. In addition, over a period of time, the flexible coating may degrade, resulting in cracks and/or flaking. As a result, it is possible that the fire resistant material may become dislodged from the head-of-wall gaps thereby reducing the effectiveness of the fire block.
The assignee of the present application has developed more advanced head-of-wall fire block arrangements, sold under the trademark FAS TRACK®. The FAS TRACK® fire block header track utilizes an expandable fire-resistant material, such as an intumescent material, applied along a length of the header track of a wall assembly. The intumescent material wraps around a corner of the header track, extending both along a portion of a web of the header track and a flange of the header track. The intumescent advantageously is held in place between the web of the header track and the floor or ceiling above the wall. When exposed to a sufficient temperature, the intumescent material expands to fill gaps at the head-of-wall. The portion of the intumescent trapped between the header track and the floor or ceiling ensures that the intumescent stays in place as it expands and does not become dislodged as a result of the expansion. U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/013,361; 12/196,115; 12/040,658; 12/039,685; and 12/325,943, assigned to the Assignee of the present application, describe construction products incorporating intumescent materials and are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.